America has had Saddam for a long time now. In fact, the only plausible conspiracy theory out there is the one pointing to a “Made in USA” tattoo found on Saddam’s rear end. The affair Saddam has enjoyed with the US is one that doesn’t need accurate theorists and original photos of date palm trees to lend to its validity. Ever since Saddam’s appearance onto the Iraqi political movie set, the CIA (America’s response to transparent government) was there. Not only did they mastermind the 1963 coup that brought the Ba’athists into power that year, but were also responsible for what many refer to as Saddam’s bastardization of pan-Arabism, a cornerstone of Ba’thist ideology at the time.This incestuous relationship intensified until the eventual ejaculation of Saddam onto the scene in 1979 as none other than the President of Iraq, and of course America’s favorite “tough guy” in the Middle East. That was just the beginning of the honeymoon that Saddam was treated to by the Americans and at the expense of the Iraqi people. The Eighties proved to be the nail in the coffin for the destiny of Iraq as a prosperous country and most of the hammering was done by the handy craftsmen at the CIA, and in many other Western capitals. Arms exports were flowing freely to exacerbate the senseless eight-year conflict between Iraq and Iran that saw millions of Iraqis and Iranians lose their lives, leaving behind a generation of orphaned children and an infrastructure befitting the eighteenth century.

At that time, the West saw Iraq as the frontline in a battle against the rise of Khomeini and his brand of the Islamic Republic, and the atrocities that Saddam was committing at that time were conveniently overseen. In fact, one of his most notorious attacks came against Iraqi Kurds in Halabja, an event that was commodified and exploited by the war industry to the fullest, was carried out by using chemical weapons that were given to him by none other than America and its allies.

Never has there been any mention of that by Kurdish political groups who celebrated the arrival of American troops last spring, magically eliminating any American responsibility for the lives of those who died senselessly that fateful day; also for the sake of convenience. No one, regardless of their political affiliation, has dared make these connections for the fear of upsetting the intricate web of lies that brought the Americans and their puppet government into power. Capturing Saddam is still an event to be celebrated. But it should be celebrated in an enlightened context. Hopefully, being enlightened would force the individual to raise serious questions about the fate of those that died under Saddam and his American supporters. Why were they killed? Who killed them? What were they killed for? Americans would want you to believe that these answers and others are yet to be discovered in the hours of interrogating that Saddam is supposed to undergo. Don’t be fooled, there are already enough indicators in Saddam’s history with the US to provide enough proof for these enquiries and others. But be aware that these questions burst two colliding bubbles. On one hand it dismisses the foolish notion that Saddam was the liberator of Palestine, the defender of Arabia, and the hero of Islam. He was a CIA asset, and a good one at that. He gave America what it wanted on a silver platter, namely military presence in and political control of the region, in a way that they couldn’t have attained otherwise.

The other theory that goes to waste is that which portrays America as the liberator of the Iraqi people. This is the same America that strengthened the Saddam regime politically, militarily, and finally religiously through its portrayal of him as the arch rival of the American empire, when in fact, he was in their back pocket the whole time. To put it simply, America brought Saddam and kept him there.

They are as responsible for the crimes he committed against Iraqis and others as he is. This is not in defense of Saddam for he is un-defendable. He is a criminal and a coward. To see the man in a hole; disheveled, and broken down is a treat for generations lost. To have the opportunity of him being captured by the same Iraqis that he tortured without the massacre of “liberation” is a dream that never came true. At the end of the day, the capture of Saddam won’t bring back a father to his son, won’t turn on the lights in the poor neighborhoods of Baghdad, and won’t make up for days lost in diasporas. It is time to look for answers, and to stop being satisfied with excuses. How can they capture him, when they’ve always had him?